Former Kansas Insurance Agent Convicted of Insurance Premium Theft

A former Kansas insurance agent will have to pay back more than $137,000 to victims of forgery and theft following a Kansas Insurance Department (KID)-led investigation involving non-payment of clients’ insurance premiums to companies.

A Crawford County District Court judge sentenced Kregg Muninger to 32 months incarceration on forgery and theft convictions. He was granted probation for two years; the probation conditions include repaying $137,664.63 to the 14 victims whose premiums were not forwarded to their insurance companies, and to one victim whose losses were uninsured. Muninger will also have to complete 360 hours of community service.

“We are pleased with the court’s decision to order restitution for those who were harmed,” Sandy Praeger, Commissioner of Insurance, said.

Praeger revoked the insurance license of Muninger in July 2010, following an investigation headed by the KID’s Antifraud and Consumer Assistance Divisions and the Pittsburg Police Department.

The KID investigation began in 2009 based on complaints that Muninger, doing business as Midwest Insurance Agency, accepted premium payments for commercial and professional liability insurance policies and then failed to forward the money to the appropriate insurance companies. Also, KID investigators discovered that false policies and insurance certificates were created to disguise the thefts.